Educational robot

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an educational robot that includes a body which forms the main portion of the robot. The educational robot also includes a head mounted on the body which is capable of making human facial expressions. In addition, the educational robot includes a plurality of limbs that are capable of making human perceptible gesture. Further, the educational robot includes an interface housed in the body and allows the user to interact with the interface. In an example, the interface allows the user to select a multimedia content from a library of multimedia content. The educational robot includes an imaging device to capture an image of the user to identify the user. Further, the educational robot renders the multimedia content in an interactive and intuitive way.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an educational remote and moreparticularly relates to robots used in child education.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Robots, depending on their utility, are employed in different classes ofindustry. One such industry in which robots have been increasinglybecoming popular is the educational industry. Robots are generally beingused in both home and classrooms to help students in their learning.They can also allow a remote connection between a teacher and students,wherein the teacher can communicate through a robot.

Although the robots increasingly being used in education, there havebeen many drawbacks in known commercial robots. For instance, the robotsdo not provide intuitive interaction between a student and a robot.Moreover, robots are perceived as mere machines and are unable toattract the attention of the students.

SUMMARY

This summary is not intended to identify essential features of theclaimed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining orlimiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.

The present invention aims to alleviate the problems associated with theconventional robots used in the field of education. The presentinvention relates to an educational robot which is capable interactionwith a user in a such a way that the interaction is humanly anduser-intuitive.

Thus, the principal objective of the present invention is directed to aneducational robot that is humanly and user-intuitive.

Another objective of the present invention is that the robot hasmulti-functional capabilities to cater to the education needs of astudent.

Yet another objective of the present invention is that the robot hasentertainment capabilities for the entertainment of the student.

In one aspect, the educational robot includes a body which forms themain portion of the robot. The educational robot also includes a headportion mounted on the body which is capable of making facialexpressions. Also, the educational robot includes a plurality of limbsthat are capable of making human perceptible gestures. Further, theeducational robot includes an interface housed in the body and allowsthe user to interact with the robot. In an example, the interface is acomputing device with touch input that allows a user to selectmultimedia content from a library of multimedia content. The educationalrobot is provided with a feature to deliver the creative learninglessons. Furthermore, the educational robot includes a camera to capturean image of the user to identify the user. Further, the educationalrobot renders the multimedia content interactively and intuitively.

The educational robot of the present invention makes human perceptiblegestures thereby making the interaction with the user intuitive andhuman-friendly. Moreover, the educational robot of the present inventionidentifies the user and renders the multimedia content based on theidentity of the user. As a result, the educational robot can rendermultimedia content based on the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will bebetter understood with regard to the following description, andaccompanying figures. The use of the same reference number in differentfigures indicates similar or identical features and components.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an educational robot, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 a side view of the educational robot, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates the head portion, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The above-mentioned implementations are further described herein withreference to the accompanying figures. It should be noted that thedescription and figures relate to exemplary implementations, and shouldnot be construed as a limitation to the present subject matter. It isalso to be understood that various arrangements may be devised that,although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principlesof the present subject matter. Moreover, all statements herein recitingprinciples, aspects, and embodiments of the present subject matter, aswell as specific examples, are intended to encompass equivalentsthereof.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an educational robot 100, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The educationalrobot can be humanoid in appearance and resembles a human body and somephysical actions of the human body. Furthermore, educational robot 100can be used to render multimedia content to a user. Moreover, theeducational robot 100 is capable of interacting with the user by makingfacial expressions and human perceptible gestures so that theinteraction with the user is intuitive and communicative. The robot cancommunicate with students, teachers, and parents

The educational robot includes a body 1 that is a major portion of theeducational robot 100. The body 1 houses various components of theeducational robot 100. The educational robot 100 also includes a head 2that is mounted on the body 1. The head 2 is mounted on the top the body1 and shape and features of the head 2 are configured like a human. Thehead 2 is shown to have a pair of eyes 3, a nose 4, and lips 5. The head2 is capable of making human facial expressions. In one example, each ofthe pair of eyes 3, a nose 4, and lips 5 can be actuated selectively topresent the human facial expressions. In one example, the eyes 3, thenose 4, and mouth 5 may be coupled to actuators, such as a pneumatic,electromagnetic, or hydraulic actuator to impart motion to them.

In one aspect, the educational robot 100 includes a plurality of limbs 6that configured as arms and legs of the educational robot 100. Forinstance, the limbs include a pair of arms and a pair of legs that canbe selectively actuated to make human perceptible gestures. In oneexample, the limbs 6 may be coupled to actuators, such as a pneumatic,electromagnetic, or hydraulic actuator to impart motion to them. It isknown that robot comprises many parts operably connected to motors suchas servo motor for imparting motion to the robot. The pair of legs arecoupled to wheels that allow the robot 100 to move on the floor. Thecomponents of the robot can be powered by a battery, for example, alithium-ion battery. The battery is preferably a rechargeable batteryand a separate adaptor can be provided for recharging the battery.

The educational robot 100 also includes an interface 7 coupled to theupper front portion of the body 1. The interface 7 can be a touchscreendisplay which is mounted on a chest portion of the body 1. The interface7 allows the user to interact with the robot and the multimedia contentsstored in the memory of the robot 100. Alternatively, the user may alsorequest the multimedia content through an app that can be connected tothe robot 100 by wired/wireless network. In operation, interface 7 mayprovide a list of the multimedia contents to the user for the user tomake the selection. In one example, interface 7 also allows the user totake a test that the teacher has prepared. The interface 7 can be an LCDscreen with a touch interface for input from the user. The LCD screendisplays the multimedia content, list, selection and other contents tothe user. Moreover, the user can play educational games through theinterface 7.

The educational robot 100 includes a camera 8 which captures an image ofthe user. The camera 8 can either be housed in the body 1 or it can behoused on the head portion 2. In either implementation, camera ispositioned in such a way that the imaging device captures the image ofthe user. The educational robot 100 also includes a processor 9 which isoperably coupled to all other components of the educational robot 100for controlling the different components. The processor 9 can be asingle processing unit or several units, all of which could includemultiple computing units. The processor 9 may be implemented as one ormore microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signalprocessors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries,and/or any devices that manipulate signals, based on operationalinstructions. The processor 9 also includes a storage device/memory thatstores multimedia content. In operation, the processor controls theoperation of the educational robot 100. For instance, the processor 9controls the actuation of the head portion 2, the limbs 6, and theinterface 7, and the imaging device 8.

In one example, processor 9 through the camera captures an image of theuser and using one or more facial recognition algorithms, identify theuser. Based on the user, the robot behaves as programmed to interactwith students, parent or teacher. The processor 9 identifies the user toprovide customized multimedia content. For instance, processor 9 mayprovide different multimedia content to teachers and differentmultimedia content to the students. Such recognition can be performed byany known facial recognition technique. Also, the processor 9 controlsthe actuation of the limbs 6 and the head portion 2 to make gestureswhich, in one example, are in accordance with the present invention. Forinstance, the processor 9 controls the interface 7 to render a video ofa rhyme for children and simultaneously, controls the limbs to makegestures to perform an act corresponding to the verse of the rhyme, forexample dancing. Such an act makes learning effective for children.Also, based on the multimedia content, the educational robot 100 maymove its limbs 6 to present a dance form.

The educational robot 100 also houses a printer 13 positioned under thescreen to print multimedia content for the user. In one example, theprinter 13 can be colored printer capable of printing content in coloredformat. Further, the printer can hold up to 100 paper thereby making theprinter self-sufficient.

The educational robot 100 includes other components that are shown inFIG. 2. FIG. 2 a side view of the educational robot 100, in accordancewith one implementation of the present invention. In the illustratedimplementation, the educational robot 100 includes a projection device10 positioned at the back of the body 2 and is configured to project themultimedia content on a screen. Further, the projection device 10 mayhave a 1080p resolution and can project the multimedia content on thescreen of size up to 100 inches. In the illustrated example, theprojection device 10 projects the image in such a way that theeducational robot 100 does not fall in the line of sight of the user.

In one implementation, the education robot 100 includes a speaker 11that may be audio-based multimedia content. The speaker 11 may be a highbass speaker with volume control to adjust an amplitude of the soundoutputted by the speaker. Moreover, the speaker can be configured toplay a welcome tone every time the education robot 100 is booted. Forinstance, the speaker 11 may play “Myself Captain Robo and I just camefrom ROBO Planet traveling 1 trillion miles to meet you, How are youdoing today? Good! so are you ready to learn new activities with metoday?”

Moreover, the educational robot 100 has a microphone 12 that can recordvoice from the user. The combination of the microphone 12 and thespeaker 11 allows oral communication between the educational robot 100and the user. Such combination is useful when the educational robot 100is providing communication between kids in the classroom and the teacherat the remote location. The educational robot 100 is well equipped inproviding the teaching assistance in home schooling.

In one implementation, the educational robot 100 is a specialized EarlyChildhood Development (ECD) robot designed for kids between 0-8 yearsaged.

FIG. 3 illustrates the head portion 2, in accordance with oneimplementation of the present invention. As mentioned before, the headportion 2 includes a pair of eyes 3, a nose 4, and a mouth 5. Further,the pair of eyes are made to resemble human eyes. Furthermore, each eyeincludes a light-emitting diode (LED) that can emit light of differentcolors, such that each color corresponds to an expression of emotion andprojector bulb back of head for creating multimedia presentation to beused in classroom. For instance, in a questionnaire session with thestudents, the color green of the LED indicates a correct answer, colorred indicate incorrect answer, and color blue indicates a mode ofthinking.

In addition, each eye is surrounded by a pair of eyelashes that can beoperated by the processor 9 to move relative to the eye. Such movementis required to produce facial expression, such as raising the eyes, etc.As may be understood, such movement is controlled by the processor 9.

In the present implementation, the mouth 5 can be selectively actuatedby the processor 9 to mimic talking gesture of the educational robot100. For instance, the mouth 5 can be made to perform lisping when anaudio clip of a rhyme or a story is played. Such motion imparts theattention of the kids.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specificembodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limitingsense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well asalternate embodiments of the subject matter, will become apparent topersons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of thesubject matter. It is therefore contemplated that such modifications canbe made without departing from the spirit or scope of the presentinvention as defined.

I claim:
 1. An educational robot comprising: a body; a head operablycoupled on top the body, the head comprises a pair of eyes, a pair ofeyelashes adjacent to the pair of eyes, a nose, and a pair of lips, andwherein each of the pair of eyes is selectively actuatable to renderhuman facial expressions, the pair of eyelashes configured to actuaterelative to the pair of eyes, the nose selectively actuatable to renderhuman facial expressions, and the pair of lips is selectively actuatableto mimic a rhyme, wherein the pair of eyes include light-emitting diodes(LEDs) to emit light of different colors; a plurality of limbs operablycoupled to the body, wherein the plurality of limbs makes humanperceptible gestures; a touchscreen display mounted on a chest portionof the body to allow a user to interact with the educational robot,wherein the touchscreen display is configured to receive a selection ofa multimedia content from a list of multimedia content by the user, thetouchscreen display presents information to the user; a storage devicecomprises plurality of multimedia content; a network communicationmember for communicating with a cloud server for downloading themultimedia content; an imaging device to capture an image of the user; aprojection device to project the multimedia content on a screen; animaging device to receive the captured image to identify the user; and aprocessor in electronic communication with different components of theeducation robot for controlling the education robot, the processorconfigured to: identify the identification of the user and behaves asprogrammed, conduct a questionnaire session by presenting a multimediapresentation through the projection device and giving a plurality ofresponses through the pair of eyes, wherein a green color of the LEDsindicates a correct answer, a red color of the LEDs indicate a wronganswer, and a blue color of the LEDs indicates thinking.
 2. Theeducational robot as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a microphoneand a speaker to allow oral communication between the user and theprocessor.
 3. The educational robot as claimed in claim 1 furthercomprising a printer housed in the body and beneath the screen.
 4. Theeducational robot as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of limbsincludes a pair of legs and a pair of arms, and wherein each limb of theplurality of limbs is selectively actuable to make the human perceptiblegesture.